Remember

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

I think there will be diverse ways to interpret this poem, Remember. What I thought was that the voice, Christina, unfortunately broke up with her lover because she predicted that she would depart her life soon. Therefore, before the death approaches, she is looking back to the times that she spent with her lover. The reason why I thought the voice would die soon was because she said ‘Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land.’ I think the ‘silent land’ in this poem symbolized heaven. Another reason why I inferred the women would die soon was because she said, ‘it will be late to counsel or pray.’ This part saddened me so much since the word ‘late’ meant a lot to me. I personally do not like the word ‘late’; it take the stretch out of me and I automatically become hopeless and desperate. If something is ‘late’, then it becomes difficult to do anything even if you want to; it means you already lost the chance. Afterwards, she asked him to remember her after she left but not to grieve. Moreover, she wanted him to smile rather than being sad. I think she wanted him to keep all the memories and precious times that they spent together. She counted the vestige of the thoughts that she once had was also memorable and beautiful moments. Personally, I felt sympathetic towards the miserable and unfortunate couple. If I were to be in a similar situation, I don’t think I can handle the pressure. However, even though they cannot stay together and love each other forever, I believe that the guy will remember the old days and have a time to reflect on the lovely times that they had once cherished.

Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Love's Philosophy

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle—
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

I was attracted by the title Love’s Philosophy. Here, the term “philosophy” does not, however, mean simply a particular set of ideas, reasoning, or theories. What exactly would philosophy of love be and how could love be defined philosophically? It seems extremely difficult and ambiguous to come up with a definition of such a philosophy, especially that of love. Personally, I cannot even think of one. However, Shelly’s philosophy seems quite different from other philosophies.
When I first skimmed the poem I found that the ends of the lines rhyme. Also with careful word choices, the poet delivers the beauty of language through the poem. While I was reading the poem, I liked the part where Shelly states, ‘Nothing in the world is single, all things by a law divine in one another’s being mingle.’ This part gave me an idea of how the society goes by and how the people interact with each other. In fact, the world is full of love and life is an endless chain of meeting and parting. Basically, both life and love are beautiful in my perspective, even if there would be some misery and sadness going by.
Therefore, I found this poem beautiful, sweet, warm, and hopeful. The poet seems to imply that nothing in the world is single but rather everything is mingled. At this part, I could feel the unity and harmony of universe. Moreover, it was interesting that the poet described how the mountains are kissing the high heaven and the waves are clasping one another. However, it is also interesting how, at the end of this poem, the narrator says that even if the sunlight clasps the earth and the moonbeams kiss the sea, if you refuse to kiss ‘me’ (the narrator), then all those are worthless. This part made me feel the emotions of how her love is great and boundless.
Overall, I could sympathize with this poem well since every stanza was agreeable, pleasing, and touching all at the same time. I am looking forward to being able to feel this kind of deep, mature, and pure feeling.